General Electric, Toshiba & Hitachi hide from their responsibilities in Fukushima

At 2:46pm, 11 March 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami hit north east Japan, triggering three meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Since then, an unthinkable amount of radioactive contamination has been discharged to our sea, our air, our land, and onto ourselves. It has changed the lives of millions of people, destroyed local farmlands and fisheries that were carefully protected for generations.

The most contaminated areas of Fukushima nuclear disaster remain inhabitable, and will for decades. This leaves the 160,000 ordered to evacuate stuck in limbo, unable to go home, and unable to build new lives elsewhere because they lack proper compensation and support.

Meanwhile, companies deeply involved in the design, construction and running of the reactors involved in the triple meltdown are not being held accountable. Shockingly in some cases, they are making more profits out of the disaster recovery. These companies, namely GE, Hitachi, and Toshiba who designed and built reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, have special rights under the Nuclear Damage Liability Law that protect them from product liability should there be a nuclear disaster. Essentially this means they can profit without worrying about the risks of a meltdown, since the public pays the damage should an accident happen.

The estimated cost of the nuclear disaster is $250 billion US, an impossible figure for any single company - even TEPCO, one of the largest power companies in the world. It is why compensation and life support for the people affected is not what it should be, and why 3.2 trillion yen ($43.7 bn) of Japanese taxpayers money has been injected into the company.

We have been talking with GE, Hitachi and Toshiba, however, when it comes to a question of their responsibility, they simply point to their existing Corporate Social Responsibility webpage or report, where they present their charitable activities in response to the earthquake and tsunami. They have avoided explaining their responsibility in the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a supplier of critical equipment.

Unlike their other products, mentions of their nuclear products are few on the companies’ websites. So Greenpeace Japan asked them to publish their official views about:

their responsibility in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster

their responsibility and potential liability in the event of a nuclear accident at a nuclear reactor manufactured by them

their reasons for their ongoing involvement in and promotion of the nuclear business

When it comes to nuclear power and the vast damage it can cause, some charitable work does not make up for the risk created in the first place.

If being accountable for your products can mean total bankruptcy for your company, there is a problem with your product. Yet nuclear suppliers are not accountable for the risk their products create, or for the moral issues that arise. Instead, if there is a problem, companies hide behind laws that give them unfair protection.

As former Babcock-Hitachi engineer Mitsuhiko Tanaka said in a Greenpeace video about a flawed reactor vessel Hitachi made for Fukushima: “when the stakes are raised to such a height, a company will not choose what is safe and legal. Even if it is dangerous they will choose to save the company from destruction.”

Corporate social responsibility does not ensure timely and just compensation for the people who are suffering, and it does not protect taxpayers from footing the bill for the negligence of the nuclear industry. Laws must change.

If these companies whose products created such severe damage can walk away while the people are forced to pay the cost, the Fukushima disaster will be repeated.

Mr. Hisayo Takada must either be a liar or ignorant of international and Japanese laws. The "Nuclear Damage Liability Law" is legislation p...

Mr. Hisayo Takada must either be a liar or ignorant of international and Japanese laws. The "Nuclear Damage Liability Law" is legislation pertaining to India - only. Japanese nuclear utilities are required by law to secure JPY 120 billion in accident liability coverage per their regulations. Also, none of the companies that might have liability for Fukushima have "walked away" - they are all still involved in the cleanup effort, and they are all pursuing new safeguards to ensure the event won't be repeated. There were no immediate deaths due to direct radiation exposures from Fukushima, but at least six workers have exceeded lifetime legal limits for radiation.

Post a comment

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

Greg McNevin
says:

Hi Nedrguy,

Japanese utilities are required to secure liability coverage as you say, but this is FAR below the potential cost of nuclear ...

Hi Nedrguy,

Japanese utilities are required to secure liability coverage as you say, but this is FAR below the potential cost of nuclear disasters. Fukushima disaster cost projections have ballooned to trillions of Yen already (est. US$250 billion). Most of this cost is falling on taxpayers as no company alone can bear the costs of such a disaster, which is why ALL companies that are involved in such a dangerous operation should be accountable for their disasters.

GE, Hitachi, Toshiba etc. were closely involved in the design, construction and maintenance of the plants, and there were many well-known faults with their designs & technology that were ignored or never fixed. That they are now able to hide behind faulty laws and protect the profits they have made while the public and people of Fukushima pay the heavy price of this disaster is totally unjust and must be rectified.

More information: www.greenpeace.org/international/fukushima-fallout

Lastly, saying there were no immediate deaths is no way to judge the impact of this disaster, if that is what you are trying to do. As mentioned above, 160,000 people have been evacuated due to radiatioactive contamination, and the areas they have left will likely remain "no go" zones for decades.

At the same time, just as it is impossible to fully gauge the economic and social costs of a nuclear accident, it is also extremely difficult to calculate the true health impacts. The radiation levels to which hundreds of thousands of people outside of the evacuation zone continue to be exposed are highly elevated, exceeding by many times the natural background level. The internationally accepted maximum dose from artificial radiation, set for members of the public, is one milliSievert per year. Yet, Japanese authorities permit citizens to receive 20 millisieverts per year, and that includes children and pregnant women who are much more vulnerable to radiation. Science says that both fatal and non-fatal health impacts can be expected in future.

Post a comment

To post a comment you need to be signed in.

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

Aymon Arciaga
says:

General Electric, Toshiba & Hitachi hide from their responsibilities in Fukushima Greenpeace International (blog) These companies, namely GE, Hitachi, and Toshiba who designed and built reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, have special rights under the Nuclear Damage Liability Law that protect them from product liability should there be a nuclear disaster. Essentially ..

Post a comment

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

Aymon Arciaga
says:

General Electric, Toshiba & Hitachi hide from their responsibilities in Fukushima Greenpeace International (blog) These companies, namely GE, Hita...

General Electric, Toshiba & Hitachi hide from their responsibilities in Fukushima Greenpeace International (blog) These companies, namely GE, Hitachi, and Toshiba who designed and built reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, have special rights under the Nuclear Damage Liability Law that protect them from product liability should there be a nuclear disaster. Essentially ..

Post a comment

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

(Unregistered) Kindred Spirit
says:

First and foremost, we must make sure this doesn’t happen again and write to our Congressional Representatives immediately to have all nuclear power p...

First and foremost, we must make sure this doesn’t happen again and write to our Congressional Representatives immediately to have all nuclear power plants shut down. I have it on reliable authority that they are aging with many on fault lines and others leaking radiation into the water and/or air.
We need energy and this is how it can be accomplished. The side effect will be almost complete employment and survival. The alternative will likely be an eventual earth-wide extinction event.
We need to pass a four part, viable safe energy initiative: 1. Give a federal tax credit over 5 to 10 years for 75% of the cost of solar energy installations on homes and businesses and flex fuel conversions for all gas powered vehicles. In the name of national security diversifying power input into a web of sources allowing all back metering with power companies paying up to 20% less for power than they charge. Five percent of that 20% would be required to go back into hardening and maintaining the grid with the other 15% being gross profit. 3. Provide incentives in the form of grants and no interest loans, for localities and jails, where appropriate, to convert sewage plants into bio-remediation ethanol production facilities where cattails are grown to clean the sewage and their rhizomes harvested to produce ethanol. Do not tax ethanol but instead increase petroleum fuel costs to offset ethanol usage 4. Pass a law requiring all new cars to be flex fuel enabled. Provide free online training teaching attendees how to manufacturer and maintain flex fuel conversion kits.
This would decrease our unemployment rate to below 2%. We would have to train and employ our jailed inmates to accommodate our employment needs here. They would then have jobs when they left prison decreasing recidivism, and further lowering our tax burden.
Banks that have not paid back bail out money should be required to make the necessary, low interest loans to affect the infrastructure for the above. This is the price the banks must pay for the help they received from U.S. taxpayers.
We the People must initiate a U.S. Constitutional Accountability Amendment directed at government and corporations within and outside the U.S. It needs to be developed from grass roots, petition driven, direct or indirect initiatives that garner 2/3 of the 50 state’s legislative support to circumvent the federal, “do nothing” House and Senate and corporate leveraged congressional vote buyouts. These grass roots petitions need to put forth a proposition or referendum that directs the state legislatures, one by one, to support the following proposed US Constitutional Amendment. The amendment can be inacted by a Constitutional Convention again with 2/3 of the 50 states voting for it. What I have written needs to be revised by a lawyer in legalese. Some very important concepts for controlling greed and corruption; supporting people’s rights; and punishing wrong doers civilly are incorporated in it. The suggestions support Revolution by a Constitutional Convention. They are way out of the box, doable, and will work if given a chance.
Proposed: U.S. Constitution Accountability Amendment
GENERAL: No law may be enacted that protects or exonerates an individual, organization, government entity, or decision making management employee or contractor from liability for negligent actions, services, or products that cause physical or mental harm directly, indirectly, or consequentially to US citizens. This amendment applies in the manner above to both US citizens and people world- wide in the case of nuclear materials and genetically modified organisms. Negligence refers to producing a product or providing a service that causes harm that should have been foreseen and/or prevented prior to its sale or dissemination or that reasonable care was not taken that resulted in harm. Contracts may be made between seller and buyer that transfers liability but one or the other must maintain the liability. This does not apply to certified organic foods and products as currently controlled, alcohol, firearms, or damage incurred as a result of a declared war. This amendment supersedes declared states of emergency. This right may be waived by individuals with informed consent. A Liability Waiver or Informed Consent pertaining to this amendment must not be required in order to obtain or maintain employment or contractual work. This Amendment applies to members of the military when engaged in all activities excluding combat with the enemy. Products and services produced outside the U.S. and sold within the U.S. are also bound by this Amendment. Litigation regarding this condition will be held in the U.S. and be governed by U.S. law. Entities outside the U.S. who fail to pay for lawsuits awarded to people or groups in the U.S. will be prohibited from doing business in the U.S. If a significant number, 50 entities, fail to pay within a given country within a one year period, that country will not be allowed to sell any products or services directly or indirectly (though another country) to the U.S. for a period not less than five years.
EDUCATION: Because this legislation will initially result in increased litigation, a new law degree will be required to deal with it. This specialized degree will be a 4 year online, college level program enabling those passing it to sit for the Accountability Amendment Specialized Lawyer license exam. Current licensed lawyers may also sit for the exam. Lawyers must retake the test every 5 years to maintain their license. The U.S. government will create and manage a free, online degree program and exam for this specialization.
NATIONAL SECURITY and EXECUTIVE BRANCH INTEREST PROTECTION LIMITED: Court processes involving national security interests will be limited to current declared war involvement and identified human terrorist (s) to include individuals, groups, and nation states. The rights and well being of U.S. citizens supersedes all other national security interests. Litigation will result in sums of money, other items of value, or service(s) of the defendant(s) being awarded to those damaged. For organizations of 100 employees or less, Whistle Blowers will be able to maintain their jobs and for companies of over 100 employees, the value of their continued work at said company until retirement will be assessed and awarded to them. Efforts to cover up wrong doing will be punished civilly with participants contributing to the pay-out(s) for damages to the plaintiff(s.) Presidential executive privilege protection will not extend to litigation covered by this amendment. However, proceedings will be postponed until after the President and/or member(s) of the Executive Branch involved are out of office with the statute of limitation beginning at that time.
Each state’s lowest level, local, juried court will determine if a claim is deserving of a hearing or deemed frivolous. Members of the jury ‘s identity will be maintained as top secret information. Jury members participation will be protected in the same capacity as that of Whistle Blowers. If deemed frivolous, the plaintiff’s will pay for the court costs. If not, said costs will be incurred by the defendant(s) and move to the appropriate court. Multiple state involvement with the frivolity decision will be held in the local court of the initial plaintiff.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH: Tasks discussed in the U.S. Constitution are hereby considered job duties. Failure to perform job duties in a timely manner, to include producing an approved budget, will result in immediate ceasing of salary to the entire responsible entity (House of Representatives, Senate, President). After a one month grace period of failing to produce an approved budget, Congressional members will be required to repay their entire year’s salary to date. Monies will not be returned but will go to the U.S. treasury and be applied to offset the U.S. debt. Additionally, congressional positions will be limited to three terms in office with salaries of not more than two and half times that of the average salary of their non government employee constituents. Congressional members are public servants. As such there will be no retirement benefits for Congressmen after January 1, 2020. Congressmen shall be provided health care by the Veteran’s Administration at a level equal to that of the lowest military member and after all covered military members have been served. Congressional families will be subject to Health Affordability Act, or similar legislation, mandates. Health Insurance Plans set forth by Congress for national implementation shall also be borne by Congressional families. Congressional laws that harm people may be litigated in accordance with this Amendment after a five year grace period. Congress will have five years from the date this law is adopted to eliminate laws that harm people or face liability for damages resulting from said laws. Here to fore, congressional members’ votes for all laws will be recorded so that congressional members may be held legally accountable and liable for their decisions. Failure to vote may carry liability.
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS: There will be no statute of limitations and damages may be sought for the following. Harm arising out of nuclear disasters, failure to disclose information that affects an entire U.S. region or the country, or genetically modified organism products or services. Information that affects an entire region or the country will include extraterrestrial events to include but not be limited to asteroids, comets, or other objects that may be on a collision course or otherwise affect the country; terrestrial concerns such as potential volcano eruptions and weather events; and the health/safety status of our oceans and below ground environment. Disclosures related to the aforementioned must be made within 6 months of the adoption of this amendment. Whistle Blowers are protected for these concerns and the choice not to disclose being punishable as described above. The statue of limitations for all other damages not described in this paragraph will be ten years.